


Happy Anniversary Yamagata

by TheRisu



Category: Akira (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Grief/Mourning, Major character already dead so warning might not apply, Movie continuity, Other, Though it could apply for the manga as well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 02:37:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16076603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRisu/pseuds/TheRisu
Summary: Another little thing from the ten year aftermath, in which Kai makes an important visit.





	Happy Anniversary Yamagata

It was getting dark. The anniversary was approaching its end.

Or rather, the safer hours of the anniversary.

The cemetery was emptying. The curfew was around the corner, and nobody wanted to get caught in a crossfire. They had already mourned enough anyway.

Or rather, most of them.

Because at least one person surely hadn’t. At least one person was actually just starting. Waiting for everyone to leave, because sometimes solitude was better for these occasions.

It was Kai.

And he was aware of the curfew. He was aware, and he couldn’t care less.

He would still remain there, kneeling before Yamagata’s ashes.

And smiling.

“Hey, man…”

And hoping he would be there in some form, listening.

“It’s been a while, I know… I’m sorry… I’ve just been really busy, you know? Kaneda and Kei, they just… They can be a handful sometimes. Especially with all that dangerous shit they’ve been getting themselves into… and yeah, I know, Kaneda hasn’t changed much, he’s still a thrill-seeker…”

Then he chuckled, painedly, and ran a hand through his hair. No matter how many times he would keep coming, no matter how much he would keep trying, it would never stop being difficult.

“He misses you too, you know? He just feels bad, that’s why he never… He thinks it’s his fault. He thinks a lot of things are his fault, and I can’t get him to change his mind… But you know it’s not, right? You know it’s not anybody’s fault!”

But it was.

It actually was _his own fault_.

He had been there. He could have prevented it.

He could have died in his place.

And yet…

“I just want him to get better…” he continued, between quiet sobs “We’re the only ones left, and if I lose him… well… I guess if I lose him, at least he’d be back with you…”

Then he smiled again, even more miserably than before.

Maybe that would be the only way for Kaneda to get better.

Despite how much both him and Kei would disagree.

“Kei… is pretty nice actually. I thought she was like, stone cold, but… but she’s been helping a lot of people out, and she’s been helping us out too… She and Kaneda… I have no idea of where that’s going or what it is, but it’s… good, I think? Yeah, it’s good… That’s what’s keeping him around, I bet…”

Because his own futile attempts surely weren’t.

“Life’s been confusing lately, if you thought Neo-Tokyo was a hellhole before, you should see it now… I seriously don’t know what’s going to happen, shit just keeps getting heavier and scarier, and sometimes I think we’ll be dead by tomorrow…”

There were more sobs, and blatant tears sliding down his face.

“But it’d be okay, you know? I’d be okay with it, because then we’d be together again… Yeah, I know, I’m being a dumbass… I should be striving. You’d punch me in the face if I showed up there ahead of my time, I know… I know, I know…”

Then he sighed, hunching over.

“It’s just _so hard_ without you… I can’t stop thinking about you, thinking about what I could have…”

But he couldn’t say it. He couldn’t admit it out loud. That was just how truly despicable he was.

“There were so many things I wanted to tell you… and I still wish I was brave enough to do it… I still wish I was… brave enough…”

And those were his last words, because he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Not even Kaneda had ever heard him cry so harrowingly.


End file.
